Methods of producing combined slide fastener and hook-and-eye closure units



y 12, 1959 G. WALDES METHODS OF PRODUCING COMBINED SLIDE FASTENER ANDHOOK-AND-EYE CLOSURE UNITS Flled May 13 1957 INVENTOR VWALDES GEORGEATTORNEY United States Patent METHODS OF PRODUCING COMBINED SLIDEFASTENER AND HOOK-AND-EYE CLOSURE George Waldes, Plandome, N.Y.,assignor to Waldes Kohinoor, Inc., Long Island City, N.Y., a corporationof New York Application May 13, 1957, Serial No. 658,656

8 Claims. (Cl. 29-408) This invention relates to a method of producingcombined slide fastener and hook-and-eye closure units, and moreparticularly to a method of producing such closure units from continuousslide fastener chain and continuous hook-and-eye tapes.

Combined slide fastener and hook-and-eye closure units are extensivelyused in garments exposed to severe side pulls, such as corsets, girdles,etc., the hook-and-eye fastener component of the closure unit servingtorelieve the slide fastener component when the side pulls or strainsare quickly and forcefully applied. Therefore, to meet the requirementsof present-day fast and low-cost production schedules, a simplified andeconomical method for producing such closure units is a matter of someimportance to suppliers and users thereof.

Accordingly, a major object of the invention is the provision of a fast,simple and highly practical methodof producing in a smooth anduninterrupted operation combined slide fastener and hook-and-eye closureunits of any length desired from continuous slide fastener chain, i.e.long lengths of companion interengaged stringers, and fromcorrespondingly longlengths of hook-and-eye tapes.

Another important object of the, invention is the provision of a" methodof producing a succession of combined slide fastener and hook-and-eyeclosure units of any length desired from continuous lengths of slidefastener chain and hook-and-eye tapes assembled thereon in superimposedrelation.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a method asaforesaid which further results in the slide fastener component of eachclosure unit produced having an element-freeextension at one end,usually the bottom end thereof, and an element-free needle gap near itsother or top end.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a methodsatisfying any. one of the foregoing objects and which is further suchthat the closure units produced thereby are provided with end edgeswhich are specially contoured to serve predetermined functionalpurposes.

The above and other objects and advantages of a method of producingcombined slide fastener and hookand-eye closure units as specified willappear from the following detailed description thereof, reference beingalso had'to the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. lis a perspectiveview illustrating in schematic fashion the various steps and theirsequence of the hereinproposed method and a preferred arrangement ofapparatus by which said method may be practiced;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a preferred form of combined slide fastener andhook-and-eye closure unit produced by the practice of the presentmethod; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective detail view illustrating a form of cutteremployed to specially contour the end edges of individual closure unitsof the type shown in Fig. 2 as they are severed from the advancing endof the assembled 2 continuous slide fastener and hook-and-eye tapestructure. I

Referring to Fig. 1, reference numeral 10 designates a drum or spool onwhich is coiled or reeled a long length of continuous slide fastenerchain SF comprising companion fastener stringers secured to one anotherby interengagement of the coupling heads of their oppositely disposedfastener elements; reference numeral 11 designates a generally similardrum or spool on which a long length of hook tape HT is wound, suchcomprising a fabric tape having conventional hook-type fastenersdisposed at regularly spaced intervals therealong; and reference numeral12 designates yet another and generally similar drum or spool on whichis coiled or wound a long length of continuous eye tape ET, comprising afabric tape mounting conventional fastening eyes disposed at regularlyspaced intervals therealong. Preferably, the aforesaidspool 11 carryingthe-hook tape 11 is arranged above and slightly forwardly of the spool10 carrying the slide fastener chain SF, and spool 12 may be disposed atthesame level as the spool 11 but considerably forwardly, i.e. in thedirection of fastener chain and hookand-eye tape travel, from said spool11 and hence an even greater distance forwardly from the spool 10. As isusual, the hook tape HT has width somewhat less than the width of one ofthe slide fastener stringers and it is faced so that its hooks aredisposed outwardly (upwardly) when said hook tape is assembled on aslide fastener stringer tape as will be described, and the eye tape 'EThas width substantially equalling that of the slide fastener chain andit is faced so that its fastener eyes are disposed inwardly (downwardly)when said eye tapeis similarly assembled on the slide fastener chain.

The hook tape HT is assembled on the slide fastener chain SF by beingdrawn downwardly thereonto from the spool 11 through a guide 15 whichserves to superimpose said tape directly on a stringer of said slidefastener chain and to position it laterally so that its longitudinalouter edge exactly coincides with the outer longitudinal edge of thefastener stringer on which it is superimposed. The so assembled slidefastener chain and hook tape are thereupon drawn in unison across thebed of a first sewing machine 16 as by means of a pair or set of feedrollers 17, 17', one of which is driven through a suitable transmissionfrom an electric motor (not shown). The driving rollers 17, 17' areduplicated by a plurality of sets of such driving rollers designated 18,18', 19, 19' and 20, 20' disposed at spaced intervals along the lengthof the moving slide fastener chain and superimposed tapes, all beingdriven from the aforesaid electric motor which drives thefirst-mentioned roller set 17, 17'. Preferably, the aforesaid sewingmachine is a two-needle machine whose two needles are adapted to sew thehook tape HT to the one stringer of the slide fastener chain on which itis assembled by two lines of stitching a, b, it being observed from Fig.2 that one line of stitching a is disposed close to the outer edges ofsaid hook tape and stringer tape, with the second line of stitching bbeing disposed a short distance inwardly therefrom.

The now sewn slide fastener chain and hook-tape assembly advances alongits path of travel to a point somewhat forwardly of the aforesaideye-tape spool 12, at which point eye tape ET drawn from said spool issuperimposed thereon preparatory to its being sewn to said assembly.Prior to this sewing operation being eifected, the assembled chain andthe two tapes HT and ET together enter a so-called aligning stationdesignated 22 whereat, either by manual or mechanical means, the spacedeyes of the eye tape ET are 'brought into exact lateral alignment withthe spaced hooks of the already sewn hook tape HT. This exact alignmentis thereafter maintained by a guide channel 23 disposed on the egressside of the aligning station 22, which channel combines with the feedrollers 18, 18 to progress the sewn-together slide fastener chain andhook tapeand the superimposed but non-sewn eye tape ET (whose eyes arein exact alignment with the hooksof the hook tape) to a second sewingmachine designated 24. Preferably, said second sewing machine has but asingle needle and such is disposed laterally so that it sews the eyetape along its front longitudinal edge to the corresponding outer edgedisposed opposite the stringer to which the hook tape is sewn. Thus, asseen in Fig. 2, the full-width eye tape ET is secured to the slidefastener chain by a line of stitching designated which extends along thelongitudinal side edge of the slide fastener chain and opposite thatalong which the aforesaid line of stitching a passes.

It will be observed that the aforesaid set of driving rollers 18, 18 isdisposed just forwardly of the second sewing machine 24, thispositioning of course insuring a positive feed of the assembled slidefastener chain and superimposed hook-and-eye tapes through said secondsewing machine. It is also to be observed that in progressing betweensets of feed rollers 17, 17' and 18, 18', the assembled slide fastenerchain and hook tape passes over an idler roller 25 spaced somewhatforwardly from the set of driving rollers 17, 17', and that in the spacebetween said set of rollers 17, 17 and the idler roller 25 there isformed a loop which allows for any relative longitudinal movementbetween said assembled slide fastener chain and hook tape, on the onehand, and the assembled but not sewn eye tape, on the other, as isrequired to exactly align the hooks and the eyes of the companionhook-and-eye tapes.

Forwardly of the second sewing machine 24, the assembled and now finallysewn-together slide fastener and hook-and-eye tape structure passes overa forward guide roller 26, between which and the set of feed rollers 18,18 another loop is formed, and thereupon said assembled structureadvances to an unfolder 27, which functions to unfold, i.e. fold back,the eye tape ET from its superimposed fastener-chain covering relation.Upon such unfolding being completed, the fastener elements of the slidefastener chain are completely exposed as is necessary both to removecertain of the fastener elements incident to the provision ofelement-free extensions and/or needle gaps at or near the ends of thefinal closure units, and to supply a specialcontouring of the end edgesof the final units as serves a desired utilitarian purpose to beexplained.

With the eye tape folded back, and the slide fastener chain opened upas-described, the assembled and sewntogether slide fastener chain, hooktape HT and openedup eye tape ET are advanced by the next forward set offeed rollers 19, 19' to a ram-operated element-removing and closure unitcut-off die generally designated as 28. Preferably, said die isgenerally of the type disclosed and claimed'in the commonly owned Feitlapplication Serial No. 439,112, filed June 24, 1954, now Patent No.2,817,403 dated December 24, 1957, and comprises two longitudinallydisposed and spaced element-removing punches 30, 30a, and a transverselydisposed cutting blade generally designated 32 for cutting offpredetermined lengths of said assembled and sewn-together slide fastenerand hook-and-eye tape structure from the advancing end thereof. As bestseen in Fig. 3, said cutting blade may be formed in three sections, onesection 32a having width corresponding to the full width of the slidefastener chain SF and being disposed to sever said chain (and hook tapeHT as well), a second section 3217 which is parallel to and offset aslight distance forwardly from said first section 32a and has widthcorresponding to that of the eye tape ET and is disposed to sever saidtape, and an intermediate connecting section 320 extendinglongitudinally between the adjacent inner ends of the aforesaid sections32a, 32b.

As will be understood from the prior application aforesaid, theelement-removing punch 30 is adapted to cut through the coupling headsof a small number, for example, two or three, of the interengagedfastener elements which are spaced rearwardly from the line of cut ofthe blade section 32a by a correspondingly small number of retainedfastener elements, such eventually resulting in the provision of aneedle gap g in the fastener chain near but spaced downwardly from thetop end edge of each closure unit produced. The companionelement-removing punch 39a extends longitudinally from the other orforward side of said transverse blade section 32a and is adapted toremove a larger number of those interengagedfastener elements which aredisposed to the forward side of the line of cut of said cutting blade32a, as results in the provision of an element-free extension 2 at oneend (the bottom end) of each severed closure unit produced.

' Consequent to the aforesaid disposition of the sections 32a, 32b and320 of the closure unit cutter 32, each cut-off operation results in theforward (upper) end of the eye tape ET being extended beyond the forward(upper) end of the assembled slide fastener chain and hook tape, and insaid assembled slide fastener chain and hook tape being extended beyondthe rearward (lower) end of the eye tape. In the final combined closureunit, the upward extension of the eye tape beyond the slide fastenerchain is particularly desirable, as it permits the upper end portion ofthe relatively frail eye tape to be folded over so as to prevent itsfraying. Similarly, the bottom end extension provided on the assembledslide fastener chain and hook tape component of the final closure unitenables said end to be folded over when being attached to the garment,thus giving a finished bottom edge to the closure unit when installed.

It will of course be understood that the powered driving rollers of theaforesaid roller sets 17, 17', 18, 18', 19, 19 and 20, 20 areintermittently driven in unison at a speed and for a time intervalcalculated to draw off lengths of the slide fastener chain of the hookand eye tapes from the spools 10, 11 and 12 on which they arerespectively wound, which correspond to the length of the closure unitsbeing produced for any particular manufacturing run or schedule. Also tobe understood is that the die 28 partakes of its working stroke in theinterval between each two successive chain and tape feeding operations,and thus the assembled and sewn-together slide fastener chain and tapestructure is at rest for the short time interval that theelement-removing and closure unit cut-off blades are in operativeengagement therewith.

Finally, it will be seen from Fig. 1 that the foremost set of feedrollers 20, 20 grips each of the individual closure units as they aresevered from the advancing end of the assembled slide fastener chain andtape structure aforesaid and feeds same forwardly, whereupon they maydrop to a container or the like positioned to receive same. Upon thesevered closure unit clearing the set of rollers 20, 20', they becomeimmediately effective to receive and grip the advancing end of saidchain and tape structure, thereby in functioning together with therearward feed roller sets to measure off the length of the structurefeeding to the action of the element-removing and cut-01f die assembly28.

Without further analysis, it will be appreciated that the hereindescribed invention provides a fast yet highly practical and simplemethod for the production of combined slide fastener and hook-and-eyeclosure units which satis fies the objectives thereof as explained inthe foregoing. However, as many changes could be made in the number andorder of the steps of the above method without departing from the scopeof the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in thepresent description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

l. The method of producing combined slide fastener and hook-and-eyeclosures which comprises the steps of progressively assembling first alength of continuous hook tape disposed with its hooks facing outwardlyand thereafter a length of continuous eye tape disposed with its hooksfacing inwardly on a length of continuous fastener chain moving along apredetermined path of travel, first sewing the hook tape to the slidefastener chain along corresponding longitudinal edges of each, adjustingthe relative longitudinal position of said eye tape with respect to thesewn hook tape as may be required to establish substantially exactalignment of the hooks and eyes of said tapes, thereupon sewing the eyetape along an edge thereof to the slide fastener chain along acorresponding edge of the latter and which is opposite to the edgethereof to which the hook tape is sewn, and successively severing theadvancing end of said combined slide fastener chain and tape structurein lengths corresponding to that of the closure units desired.

2. The method substantially as set forth in claim 1, wherein thecontinuous slide fastener chain and the separate continuous hook and eyetapes are each drawn from a supply thereof arranged in roll formation.

3. The method substantially as set forth in claim 1, wherein the hooktape has width less than half the width of said slide fastener chain andis superimposed on but one stringer tape thereof, and said eye tape haswidth substantially equal to that of the slide fastener chain and isdisposed thereon in covering relation to both the hook tape and theslide fastener chain.

4. The method substantially as set forth in claim 3, and the furtherstep of folding the eye tape back out of its covering relation withrespect to the hook tape and the slide fastener chain following itsbeing sewn to the latter as aforesaid.

5. The method of producing continuous slide fastener and hook-and-eyeclosure units, which comprises the steps of progressively superimposingfirst a continuous hook tape and thence a continuous eye tape on alength of continuous slide fastener chain advancing along apredetermined path of travel, the hook tape having width correspondingsubstantially to the width of one stringer of the slide fastener chainand the eye tape having width substantially equaling the full width ofsaid chain, sewing the hook tape along one edge thereof to acorresponding longitudinal edge of the slide fastener chain prior to theeye tape being superimposed on the latter, sewing the eye tape to theassembled and sewn-together slide fastener chain and hook tape along onelongitudinal edge of the edge tape and a corresponding edge of the slidefastener which is opposite that to which said hook tape is sewn, wherebysaid eye tape is disposed in covering relation with respect to the slidefastener chain, folding said eye tape back from said slide fastenerchain so as to expose the fastener elements thereof, severing from theadvancing end of said combined slide fastener chain and hookand-eye tapestructure and with said eye tape disposed folded back as aforesaid, asuccession of lengths thereof corresponding to the desired length ofclosure unit, and simultaneously with each such severing operationremoving a plurality of the fastener elements from the slide fastenerchain at locations thereof disposed to both sides of the line ofseverance.

6. The method substantially as set forth in claim 5, wherein saidelement-removing operation effects removal of a small number of fastenerelements located near to but spaced rearwardly from said line ofseverance, and simultaneously effects removal of a substantially largernumber of the fastener elements located immediately to the other side ofsaid line of severance.

7. The method substantially as set forth in claim 5, wherein thesevering operation effects severance along transverse lines of out whichare offset from one another.

8. The method substantially as set forth in claim 7, wherein saidtransverse lines of cut are disposed to provide the eye tape of eachclosure unit produced with an upperend extension.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,964,485 Seaver June 26, 1934 2,219,165 Nedal Oct. 22, 1940 2,395,869Hendley Mar. 5, 1946 2,697,227 Prupis Dec. 21, 1954

